


Old Habits

by Tonko



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Nakama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 07:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4512774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tonko/pseuds/Tonko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chopper does something he hasn't done in a long while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Habits

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as anon for op_fanforall on LJ, and then posted on my LJ, back in 2008. For the prompt ""Zoro and Chopper interaction. Fluff and sweetness. Maybe an aspect of comfort. I just love anything with those two together."

They were on a summer island, out to forage an hunt, and Zoro was moving quietly to avoid scaring any potential prey when he stepped into a little open area among the stands of birch and fir and maple that covered most of the island.

Chopper was there, but not, as Zoro might have expected, digging up wild aloe or some other medicinal herb. His backpack was on the grass, his shorts folded and set on top of it, his hat resting on them in turn. 

The young reindeer was standing in the sunny glade in Walk Point, quietly grazing. He browsed slowly through the clover covering the ground, raising his head now and then to nibble at the leaves of young birch saplings.

Zoro was struck still and staring. It was almost natural. Almost, if reindeer were native to summer islands, if they had blue noses and antlers that had been broken and repaired with metal and screws. 

But even knowing that, it didn't matter. Zoro wasn't a scientist, didn't care if a reindeer didn't belong on this island. One could say they didn't belong at sea either, and Chopper defied that ages ago.

It had never occured to him that Chopper might ever want to do this. From what he knew, Chopper had been rejected by his original herd a long time ago, an outcast because of his nose, before ever even having turned part human. But maybe that was even more of a reason for him to miss this.

The wind changed, carrying Zoro's scent forward, and Chopper startled, bolting to a tree and popping into Brain Point, clutching at the tree with his usual terrified inability to actually hide.

"I--I--" he looked deathly embarrassed, which Zoro couldn't fathom. He'd seen the guy with chopsticks up his nose.

"Is it good?" Zoro asked him, glancing to one side and fingering a birch leaf curiously. 

"Um, n-no..." Chopper answered. "I mean, you wouldn't like them, but they were my favourite before... I..." he trailed off and let go of his tree, looking down and scratching at the ground with one hoof.

Zoro pulled the leaf off the tree and tucked it in his mouth. He chewed. It tasted... like a leaf. He gave Chopper a slightly apologetic shrug. "Guess you're right," he said, and swallowed it.

Chopper stared up at him, eyes wide and suspiciously shiny. Then he reached up to press his hat brim down over his eyes, and realized it wasn't there. "I guess I should get back to looking for those plants I wanted," Chopper said quietly, and headed for his pack and clothes.

"What's the hurry?" Zoro yawned, eyed the sky and then sat down against a rock where he knew the sun would be for the next couple of hours. "The log pose isn't gonna set for two days anyway."

He leaned his swords against the rock and closed his eyes. He opened them a few seconds later to see Chopper still standing at his pile of belongings. Zoro raised his eyebrows, and Chopper moved tentatively away as Zoro watched. He changed back to his reindeer form, looking like he was braced for... something.

Zoro just smiled at him a little, comfortable and content, which made Chopper freeze for a moment, eyes wide, before shoving his muzzle back among the clover, and Zoro thought he could hear muffled curses coming from Chopper's general direction. 

Settling himself in for a good nap, Zoro nonetheless didn't fall asleep right away, watching Chopper graze, at ease.


End file.
